Death was such a nasty business. Saalkan had meted out more destruction on this day than in all the years of his past life combined. He was a different man in those times. The stars had set him upon a path which would not be denied, no matter the cost. If it meant the loss of a few scores of mortal lives, then so be it. Their time would have come eventually. But not him. All of the blood he had shed this day was afterbirth in his ascendancy to a destiny beyond the petty concerns of these short years.

In the aeons of the life to come, Saalkan would likely transcend petty vendettas like he had inflicted upon the staff in the birthday party. It had felt so good, though, after all his time in hiding. Truth was so liberating. Even many of the cohorts that had been taken in through the eager Operative Kazyah Linn perished. The weak weeded themselves out, removing their waste of resources and essence in favor of the strong. Just like the crew in the birthday party -- They all died, yet he lived. So it shall ever be.

A few useful tools remained, and so Saalkan would collect them before taking the Bridge. The turbolift that had hosted his quiet reverie finally came to a stop on Deck 21 near the Environmental System Control. One of the tools stood outside the door, phaser rifle in hand.
"Any disturbances?" Saalkan asked Doqqu.

"None, sir." The Klingon stared straight ahead like a statue, his posture unflinching.

Saalkan knew better than to doubt the Klingon warrior's combat readiness. His spirit was alive where his body was still. The perfect line of defense for what lay within.

The doors to EV Control opened up before him, revealing two of his other remaining tools. One of them, Andrews, stood guard next to Snowdon who monitored the measured and systematic deactivation of life support throughout the ship.
"May I assume that the protracted amount of time required to initiate life-support shutdown means that it has not been altered in the interim?" Saalkan folded his hands over his waist, his face taciturn.

Nealey nodded. "Yes Director. The life support back ups kicked in but I'm almost there with closing down the back up and restarting the shut down sequence. I expect it will be completed in around 20 minutes' time"

"For clarity's sake, Operative Andrews, do you confer with the young lady's report?" Saalkan shut Andrews a look of crisp expectation.

"I do Director" Tony replied.

"In that case, lock it down. We're assembling to the Bridge." Saalkan left them to their final tasks without heeding a response. A few steps later, he found Doqqu where he had left him.

"Doqqu, proceed to the Bridge at once and wait for me there. Kill anyone you see who is not accompanied by myself, Tolan, or Linn." Saalkan stared up at the enormous Klingon in such a way as to be looking down on him. "Will you comply?"

"Yes." Doqqu looked at Saalkan for the first time. "I will comply. There will be no survivors."

With Doqqu hurrying away to fulfill his orders, Saalkan went back to the EV control center.

"Are you quite finished yet?"

"More or less" Nealey replied.

"Then form on me," Saalan said. "Miss Snowdown will lead the way. Operative Andrews will take the rear. The way to the Bridge should be clear, but remain alert."

"I wouldn't be too alert - I'd imagine those who aren't unconscious will be running around trying to override what we're doing" Tony said.

"The ship may be ours at the moment, but that fact will not stop a phaser blast should fortune smile on your enemy, would it?" Saalkan sniffed at both humans. "Let us go."

The trek to the turbolift was uneventful. Fortune had surely chosen Saalkan this day. When the doors opened, Saalkan took the first step, pushing past Nealey in doing so.

"Bridge."

When Saalkan saw the Bridge open before him, it looked little different from his last visit. When that mortal savage Ainscow thought to reprimand him, she thought that she had wielded power over him. Clearly she knew nothing. Now, at the height of their mutiny, the Bridge was empty save for their merry band.

"Executor Tolan," Saalkan said as he stepped from the turbolift onto the Bridge proper.

Tolan looked. "Is it done?"

"Yes," Saalkan said. "Engineering is now a vacuum, and its controls are routed directly to the Bridge."

With a sharp nod, he sent Andrews and Nealey to their respective Tactical and Operations consoles. Doqqu crossed the Bridge to stand at his side.

Nealey sat at the Operations station and felt somewhat satisfied. She didn't even realise what she was doing was totally out of character even for her.

"Systems that we need are functioning at 100%. I'm hoping to break the encryption on the helm but it doesn't help that Henley decided to incapacitate Muniz before we got the codes from him" Nealey said.

Henley sighed. "He had a phaser. What do you expect me to do?"

"Enough you two. Focus" Tolan commented.

"Where is Ensign Wilson?" Saalkan asked. "Surely she could be made to expedite this."

Tolan shrugged. "I have no idea. Her commbadge was found hidden in one of the turbolifts so we are unable to trace her. If we can't unlock the helm we will take a runabout instead. I have arranged onward travel to the Alpha Quadrant"

"I do not like unknown quantities in my equation," Saalkan said. "My new facility should be operational, so there is little need for the Vindex. I suggest we waste no further time here."

Tolan nodded. "As much as I quite like this chair I'm inclined to agree with you. Alright - Snowdon, Andrews and Doqqu - I'd like you to go and retrieve a couple of people for the ride - I have given Andrews the list and he is in charge. Security - beam the Captain, Yeoman and Miss Laena down to the runabout and then conduct a sweep of the surrounding area"

Tony nodded and walked towards the turbolift as Nealey silently stood up and walked up to Tony.

Doqqu appeared reluctant to leave Saalkan's side yet again, but in the end he gave a grunting nod and joined the group at the turbolift.

The leader of the security team nodded and signalled for one of the party to go to the runabout to operate the transporter. The team then disappeared into the ready room whilst Tolan stood up and looked around at Henley, Saalkan and Linn.

"We leave in half an hour. Ensure you have everything you want to take with you because we're not coming back - I am going to take care of something in my office" Tolan ordered.

"I suggest we all do the same," Saalkan said. "There are personal effects in my quarters which I need to collect before we depart."

Kaz nodded, "Agreed."

"Aye Commander. Do we report back here or to the shuttlebay?" Henley asked.